susannaprouse

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Eight - San Francisco

The morning was sad as we packed up our remaining things ready to leave. To make ourselves feel better we went out for breakfast to a Brooklyn style bagel place. The bagels were delicious and they had loads of flavours of cream cheese, I was jealous I couldn't try them all!

After breakfast we got an uber to Stanford where I met some of Mike's colleagues and dumped our bags. We walked to the Stanford store together where we perused all the Stanford swag contemplating buying t-shirts but not quite managing the $40 price tag. We also laughed at the 'Stanford Family' clothes trying to find a 'Stanford Wife' t-shirt. Unfortunately it seemed it was all geared to Mom, Dad and Grandma.

Mike went back to work while I wandered the shop some more trying not to catch the eye of the overly friendly people that worked there. My plan failed and I ended up talking to a woman who stood far too close to me and was trying to ask what types of books I enjoyed. Still feeling sad to be leaving I didn't really want to talk to her and managed to fob her off.

I walked around the huge campus (it's the biggest in the world at 8000 hectares) amazed at how pristine, ordered and quiet it is. The buildings are huge and designed with such different styles it felt like I was in Epcot at Disney World. It's clear the university has huge amounts of money and it feels very different to campus' in the UK.

I kept walking until I found the Papa New Guinea sculpture park. The woodland area was full of huge totems disguised within the trees. It was organised and funded by the Anthropology Department and saw artists ranging from 27 to 74 from Papa New Guinea come to Stanford to chisel the totems. They were amazing.

Next I walked to the Hoover Tower, dedicated to the only president that had graduated from Stanford. I paid my $4 to get the elevator up to the top. From the top you could see the sprawling campus and as far as San Francisco city. It was amazing to see a birds eye view of all the pristine sections of the campus. Right next to the tower I found a nice place to sit where I had a rest and caught up on writing and uploading blogs.

From here I walked through some green space on the campus to find the Arizona Cactus Garden. From a placard I learned the space was dedicated to the Stanford family who had started the university on their farm in the 1800s when their only son died. The cactus garden was full of huge and beautiful cacti. I walked around taking lots of photos before heading on to another nearby shopping centre.

I'd decided since I was on my own, it was hot and it was the last day of the trip I should have an ice cream. Obviously. Although the ice cream we'd had the day before was good I wanted to try another. I walked to the outdoor shopping centre quickly buying a little box of sushi so I hadn't just eaten ice cream in the last 14 hours. I managed to spill soy sauce all over my legs while eating the sushi - probably in my anticipation for the ice cream.

And the ice cream did not disappoint. I chose one scoop of strawberry lemonade sorbet and another of peanut butter fudge. After I ordered it the old man serving me asked me something I didn't hear. As usual I just nodded and smiled, he turned away and then handed my ice cream over, one scoop now had a big smile and two eyes. He'd obviously asked if I wanted a face on it because he thought I was a child. And he absolutely judged me correctly. I'm not sure if my body knew it had to make the most of it but that ice cream and sorbet was so so amazing. Even thinking about it now my mouth is watering. I highly recommend Tin Pot Creamery if you can ever go.

I walked back to Mike's office and waited in the sun for him to come and collect me. We grabbed our bags and quickly got an uber to the airport. The uber ride felt like we were back in South America with our Spanish speaking driver tapping away on his phone on YouTube choosing songs ranging from James Blunt to Whitney Houston while driving. That and the fact that he missed the airport turning means he got a bad review.

We got through the huge security line at the airport slowly. The way it's laid out at San Francisco is so frustratingly badly designed, I desperately wanted to streamline it especially when we finally got through and there was loads of redundant space with no one using it! It does make me realise how good the British are at queuing.

After some fries to share we got on the flight for the 11 hour journey back to London Gatwick. While we were waiting I had serious serious heart hurt. I couldn't believe it was ending. It felt like we'd been away for ages but also no time at all (I've tried to Google the word for this feeling but can't seem to find it, there must be one, please let me know if there is as I'd like it on my gravestone). We'd crammed so many amazing experiences in and going back to normal life felt heart breaking.

The journey on Norweigan Airlines, the meeting of low budget airlines and long haul flight was very weird as the seats didn't recline much and you had to pay extra for food but it went very quickly.

And then we were back.

It's going to be strange not documenting our days doing new and exciting things, meeting new people and seeing new places. I can see why people write journals as it's felt like another way to appreciate our trip rather than just experiencing it. Even on the days we've been ill or travelling on over night buses, writing about it brings it home how lucky we have been and are and I can't say how grateful I feel. I also can't say how grateful I feel to once again have Mike as my travel companion (and now life companion I guess!). Two months in each others pockets is definitely a test. Although there have been times when Mike's jokes haven't amused my serious side or my beautiful singing hasn't entertained Mike, overall we've been a brilliant team if I say so myself. As always Mike's made me braver doing things I never thought I could and I think I've pushed Mike to do new things with my enthusiasm. Hopefully that will be the way we are on every trip we take together.

So now all that's left to do is say goodbye, adios, chao, hasta luego. Thanks for reading, it's been really nice knowing that people have been with us during this amazing journey. Until the next time...

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Seven - San Francisco

It was Mike's last full day at Stanford so he got up and left in the morning. I spent the morning doing some life admin and packing before heading out in the sunshine. Luckily I realised before I'd left that I'd left my purse in Mike's bag so needed to meet him for lunch before doing anything else.

We met at a deli sandwich shop Mike had been banging on about forever. He ordered an Italian sub and I ordered a crab sub. He was impressed as I went off menu (something you can do!) to choose mine. Apparently he'd never been brave enough to do this. I did falter when they asked me what cheese I wanted as I didn't recognise any of the names, cheese in American must be different.

The sandwiches were good, and enormous, but soon Mike had to get back to work. I headed off in the direction of a shopping centre. Forty five minutes later and I'd arrived. I'd arrived at the shop of my dreams - The Container Store. It was like ikea but everything in it was for organisation. Even though I knew I couldn't fit anything in my bag to take home I couldn't help but wander around the aisles looking at everything. I couldn't stop picking up all the things that can hold other things but in a better way. If only we had this shop in the UK.

The rest of the shopping centre was super fancy, obviously aimed at the Silicon Valley workers. Still I looked in shop after shop, trying things on and inevitably not finding anything I liked. Just as I had messaged Mike to organise our meeting point I went in one last shop and finally found a pair of dungarees I had to have!

Mine and Mike's meeting point was an ice cream place, we were both too full from the sandwiches for a big dinner. Little did we know the ice creams were massive...but also delicious. We sat down to eat the top layer before walking back to the Airbnb while eating the rest.

The evening was spent packing and watching TV. With all our extra souvenirs and camping gear we'd acquired it was a challenge to get everything squeezed into our bags that suddenly seemed tiny. It might have been that I'd watched the last ever Orange is the New Black which was incredibly sad but I suddenly got so sad that it had been our last full day on the trip. I realise Mike had experienced a strange tail off as he'd been working at Stanford but it still felt like we were on honeymoon and now it was ending. I felt absolutely melancholic and tried not to think about it as we went to sleep.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Six - Yosemite & San Francisco

Our last morning in camp we quickly had breakfast and packed everything up. It was sad to see our space to empty and car so full as it meant it was the end of the trip. After his first trip to the car with an armful of camping gear, Mike came back with a big grin on his face. He'd found a pair of crisp $20 bills tucked into the rear passenger seat, a thank you from our hitchikers. This camping trip had been such good value! Before we drove back to San Francisco we decided to go for one last hike leaving from the campsite and heading to the base of El Capitan.

It was much cooler that morning but the sky was still blue and the sun came out quickly. The trail was empty so we enjoyed the solitude. We walked through forest surrounded by huge rocks perfect for bouldering, green meadows and lakes. The nearer we got to El Capitan the rockier it got until eventually we were clambering over rocks to get as close as we could to the famous cliff. As we were walking we saw some climbers already on El Capitan which was amazing as it really bought home how enormous it is. The climbers looked like little flies on the side of the white cliff.

We found our way to the base feeling the need to touch it. Looking up was dizzying and I have no idea how the climbers can bear it. After watching the climbers for a while we walked back to the campsite to start the journey back to the city.

The drive felt quicker than the drive in maybe because of the stop at a strange cabin for coffee, the stop at Walmart to buy some American candy or the stop at McDonald's to get some American nuggets. We dropped off our rented camping gear expecting to have to pay the $100 that we'd saved but we didn't! We left like bank thieves our slow walk to the car getting quicker and quicker while we giggled to each other. We then dropped off our stuff at our last airbnb of the trip, before driving the car back to the rental place.

We wandered down the streets of Palo Alto as always playing the house buying game. The houses here are so nice, each one a different design and colour, detached with nice lawn chairs (although the lawn isn't that nice because of the Californian drought). We stopped off at a falafel place and bought a veggie falafel wrap to share for that evening as well as a can of my new addiction - Blood Orange San Pelligrino.

Back at the Airbnb we had a much needed shower before eating our wraps and watching more of Stranger Things, very glad to be back in a comfy bed.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Five - Yosemite

We got a little more sleep in our tent having realised we needed to blow up our sleeping mats and they weren't self inflating. We're idiots. We still got up early to have breakfast and head off to our days hike. This hike was a further out so we needed to drive so we packed up the car and drove for an hour and a half through the beautiful mountains.

With the car parked on the side of the road we started the 2 hour hike up to Cathedral Lake. Although the hike wasn't as high as the day before because we were both tired from the falls hike and lack of sleep and because it was a higher altitude at the beginning we both felt it. The temperature was cooler though and the pine forest we were walking through was beautiful. We even saw two really cute chipmunks!

We got to the lakes and of course it was beautiful surrounded by huge cliffs and blue sky. With such an amazing view we decided to sit, have our lunch (peanut butter bagels this time, such variety!) and enjoy it. As we walked back along the same route we passed by other hikers - a whole group of people with yoga mats which we figured must be a yoga group ready to downward dog by the lake - and a very chipper American that Mike immediately disliked.

We got back in the car and started to drive toward an information point to see the viewpoints on the return journey. As we were driving we saw two women with their thumbs up. Since we had space in the car we stopped for them, they were very grateful and explained they were trying to get to The Valley. They'd been trying to hitch a ride for a while on the side of the road but hadn't had any luck so wanted a ride to the local store with hopes of better luck. I knew we were actually driving back to the valley but wanted to check with Mike before we agreed to take them as it was a long journey. So I made the excuse that we wanted to buy some beer at the shop anyway (which we did!) to talk it over. We decided we'd give them a lift if they were still outside by the time we came out. They were, looking increasingly desperate, so we explained we wanted to stop at some viewpoints. They were thrilled.

The journey was nice, we stopped at all the amazing stops and chatted. They were about to embark on a 4 day hike so dropped their car off at the end but missed the shuttle bus back again. They were nurses and were lovely, and had driven 18 hours straight from Washington (the state) to get here. Our final stop together was the picnic area near El Capitan, the most famous cliff in Yosemite. It's the rock that's featured on the climbing documentaries Free Solo and The Dawn Wall and I think to climb it you have to be absolutely mad; it's enormous.

I paddled in the lake for a while before we said goodbye to the women, wishing them luck and drove back to camp. We both hoped that giving a lift to the hitchers would mean we had some good karma as that evening we needed to beg for gas to cook our food. Before I started begging we had a beer for courage. I went to the tent behind us who had seen the gas leak and were a family hoping for the best. Although the guy, with his camo gear and matching tent that he practically blended into, was a bit weird he said we could borrow his fancy stove. I went over to get our noodles and a pan and we both went over. He warmed up when Mike came over too and we all bonded over finding camping bargains - all his camo camping gear was U.S surplus.

After eating our noodles we packed up as much as we could as we were leaving the next day, watched another Stranger Things and tried to sleep.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Four - Yosemite

Sleep had been evasive for me as with every noise I was alert thinking it could be a bear. I also felt weirdly sick in the night, maybe the huge amounts of hot dogs weren't a good idea. We still woke up early to have breakfast and head off for our first Yosemite hike.

We'd decided to start with one of the best but well travelled hikes in the park - the Mist Trail and John Muir Trail. We got the free shuttle bus to the start of the trail (everything is very well organised here) and started the climb. It was 300 metres up a steep hill but we both felt good. The trail was busy but we were surprised that it wasn't as busy as we thought it could be. It was also nice that it was really well signposted so for once Mike could switch off and not check his maps every five minutes, although he did still track it for the stats.

On the way up we saw beautiful rivers surrounded by pine trees and spotty squirrels that were actually cute! After an hour of walking uphill we made it to Vernal, the first waterfall on the trail and the busiest. People surrounded the huge waterfall taking photos and admiring it's expanse. It was so flat at the top it looked man-made and the way the light shone on it created a perfect rainbow at the bottom. We kept walking up until the people thinned out and we were on our own. Most people walk up to the first waterfall and then back down again but as we wanted a longer hike we kept on going.

We carried on walking up for another hot hour, it was 30 degrees by this point so needless to say we were both sweating like pigs (do pigs actually sweat?). We only met a few other hikers on the way which was nice and meant we could take photos and look out on the absolutely stunning vistas without jostling for the best position. Everywhere we looked the scenery looked like the most amazing photo. We eventually made it to the second waterfall, Nevada Falls. It was also beautiful and we spent a while just watching it in silence.

We found a way to the top of the falls, crossed over a bridge taking heed of the signs telling us not to swim as people had died, the river pushing them over the falls. As it was lunch time we found a shady spot by the river and ate our peanut butter sandwiches, crisps and clementines. We dipped our sweaty feet into the river cooling off ready for the rest of the hike.

The rest of the walk was downhill which sounds much nicer but was painful on my knee and Mike's shins. Two hours of downhill and by the end we were kind of doing a ridiculous half walk, half run past others to get down quickly. People must have thought we had problems.

We got to the shuttle stop and had a much needed sit until the bus came. The bus dropped us off at Yosemite Village which is actually a local grocery and gift shop and (of course) fast food place. We needed to get supplies and I secretly wanted to look at the Yosemite themed things we could buy. I also unsecretly wanted to get an ice cream. We bought some beers, vegetables for dinner and cleaning supplies (our camp didn't have a shower) and Mike ended up buying some Yosemite t-shirts. I was very annoyed as the clothes were humongous on me, they did an XL but no XS and the kids clothes were too babyish.

We walked back along the trail towards our campsite stopping in at the information point to collect a map for the following days hike. Because a 13km walk just isn't enough for us these days and apparently we can't get enough of waterfalls we decided to walk around the Yosemite Falls walk on our way back. The trail we flat and easy getting us to the falls in 20 minutes. The falls were nice but unfortunately paled in comparison to those we'd just seen.

We walked back to the campsite and rewarded ourselves with a beer and some crisps before dinner. Dinner that night was pesto pasta with spinach and tomatoes. It was delicious! The means of getting it didn't go so well though. Firstly while draining the pasta Mike managed to tip a lot of it into the ashy fire pit. Because of bears I then had to fish it all out to put in the bear proof bins. Luckily he'd greedily cooked way more than we needed, with eyes much bigger than his belly. Then just as our dinner was ready we decided to take the gas canister off the stove. We did and it immediately started hissing and stank of gas. We had a leak. We put it on the ground away from us not really knowing what to do.

Suddenly a weird German guy appeared from nowhere telling us we had a gas leak and that it was best to burn it off. He promptly pulled out a lighter and lit the gas canister, and wandered off. We'd got rid of the gas smell but now had a huge jet of flame coming out of our gas canister very close to our tent and within the famously prone to bushfires pine forest camp site. As if by magic a ranger appeared in full ranger costume, with the hat and everything. I thought he was going to evict us but quickly smiled at us telling us we'd done the right thing and that we should have water by just in case. Good thinking, Ranger!

We waited for an hour for the gas to run out but it seemed to go on forever. It was annoying as we were both exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. Then our crazy German knight in shining armour came and asked if he could have the flaming canister to use as a 'candle'. Of course we said yes if he didn't mind dealing with it. He proceeded to pick up the canister we'd been so wary of and put it on his picnic table. Now suddenly sat in the dark (we'd been too frugal to spend $16 on firewood) I felt strangely sad and annoyed that our dangerous little lamp had gone. With nothing to do and exhausted from all the walking and excitement, we went to bed.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Three - San Francisco & Yosemite

It was the final day on my own and after Mike left I packed up my bag, sorted out our little room and went shopping for food for our Yosemite camping trip. While walking to the shop I started to feel the unbearable feeling of heart hurt. For those who don't know this is the physical feeling in your heart when thinking of a brilliant memory/person/place and even thinking of heart hurt makes me want to cry. I was getting heart hurt for the whole trip knowing it was coming to an end. I know I should be grateful we made the trip in the first place and that we're so incredibly lucky but I can't help the way I feel. By the time I reached the shop I'd managed to do what the British do best: push my feelings deep deep down.

After buying everything we needed and cramming it all into my big pack, day bag and two plastic bags I left our little room and walked the 20 minutes to the train station. The walk in the sun with all the bags was hard, luckily I'd left early as by the time I got there and worked out which platform I needed to be on I only had five minutes to buy my ticket.

Five minutes later the train turned up, it was so cool! It was double decker and I really think it's something we should adopt in the UK instead of cramming people onto trains so they can't even sit down. The journey went quickly and I got off at Palo Alto. I navigated myself to where our hire car place should have been but couldn't see it anywhere. While I was looking at the map I heard a whistle and saw Mike with his bag. He'd been looking for the hire car place too but hadn't found it. We went into a hotel to ask and it turns out the hire car office was in the hotel with absolutely no signs outside; America is weird.

We went into the office but no one was there. We waited and waited but still no one came so we decided to ring the number on a business card on the desk. No reply. We then rang customer service who were rubbish and didn't understand what we were explaining. Half an hour after we arrived to guys walked in saying don't worry, we're here.

By this point I was angry. I asked why there wasn't anyone there and they said the office was closed for an hour. When I asked why we weren't told this over email or why there weren't signs anywhere they said there was a sign on the door. So I showed them the lack of sign. They brushed it off which made me angrier. I'm pretty sure they weren't supposed to have left the office. I really really really hate bad customer service and people that are inept at their jobs. I'm not rude to other people so it makes me so angry when people are rude to me. My anger paid off as we got an upgrade.

We got in the car and I nervously worked out where everything was. Quickly we were on the highway driving on the wrong side of the road and trying to find out the speed limit. The last time I drove in another country I had a manual so I was very pleased to have an automatic in the States so it was one less thing to worry about. My foot did keep reaching for the phantom clutch and my hand to change gear though.

Half an hour of driving and we parked at our camping rental place. If you read the other blog post you know this was the moment of truth - did we just get an amazing deal and save $100!? Of course we did because apparently in San Francisco we get all the freebies!

We quickly left the shop not believing our luck before driving the 4.5 hours to our campsite. The drive was beautiful and exactly what I had imagined from America. Barns, white picket fences, ranches all passed us by, on long straight roads. We eventually reached the entry point for Yosemite, paid the $35 to get in and we were on our way! Everywhere we looked was another beautiful view, pine trees, huge rocks and rushing rivers.

Another half an hour and we were at our camp, strangely named Camp 4. We had originally booked a different campsite, Crane Flats, the last option as all the others in Yosemite were fully booked. Crane Flats didn't have great reviews and was apparently anything but flat. My plan was to call the Parks people in San Francisco to see if anyone had cancelled. Unfortunately every time I rang there was not availability anywhere else. Then I found out about Camp 4, it had great reviews and was known for being where climbers stay. In fact if you've seen 'Free Solo' or 'Dawn on the Wall' (if you haven't you definitely should, both great documentaries) it's shown on that. I realised that to stay in Camp 4 you had to enter a lottery for $10. So I entered and my luck paid off, we won the lottery!

The camp was brilliant, surrounded by pine trees each spot had a picnic table and bear proof locker. Being the tent genius I set up the tent while Mike bought our stuff down. We put all our food and toiletries in the bear locker triple checking our bags and the car as everywhere was notices showing bears breaking into things to get their tasty treats.

It had started to get dark and we donned our head torches to cook. After a lot of looking and eventually googling we worked out our stove and gas canister eventually cooking hot dogs. Then we cosied up in our very small tent, once again pleased with our miniature bodies (how do tall people camp!?), watched a Stranger Things and tried to sleep.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty Two - San Francisco

My final full day on my own and we'd got into a routine. Mike went to work while I relaxed for a while. I then caught the bus to the Mission. This was an area in San Francisco that Mexican people had settled in but in the last ten years has become very gentrified. I got off the bus and went into the first shop I saw. Everything was beautiful, expensive and definitely gentrified. I made my way around the Mission going from shop to shop loving everything. It felt a bit like being in Bristol if everywhere was Clifton Village.

Having visited lots of shops I walked to the oldest building in San Francisco, a small white chapel Mike had warned not to pay to go in because it wasn't that great. Instead I looked at it from the outside thinking how funny it is that we have such old buildings in the UK (the church being only 300 years old). By this time I was hungry and so I walked to a noodle place I'd read about. Unfortunately I get really unlucky with food places and when I got there it was closed! Not wanting to get hangry again I quickly found a place called the Cheese Mission and ordered a toastie, or as Americans say 'grilled cheese'. The grilled cheese was delicious!

I wandered up and down the streets of the Mission going into hipster shops and antique stores. I walked so far I walked out of the hipster area and into the Mexican area. It felt like I was right back in Mexico City except the piñatas were of Donald Trump (genius) and everything was much more expensive. After walking for a while I found Balmy Ally, an alley full of huge colourful murals, walking down it really did feel like I was in Bristol.

Before I headed to the Castro I treated myself to an ice cream, two scoops, the first of salted caramel and the second of peanut. The salted caramel was especially good it - might even beat Swoons! I then walked to the Castro, the famously gay district in San Francisco. As soon as I arrived it was clear where I was as rainbows were everywhere. Flags lined the streets, every shop had one somewhere, even the zebra crossings were rainbows. It was brilliant.

I walked through the streets until I found the Pink Triangle, a memorial to the gay victims of the second world war. Having walked around, looking in more shops, I then walked all the way back to The Mission and Dolores Park to sit until Mike arrived. I enjoyed the park especially because there were a lot of dogs to look at.

Mike and I met at a burrito place Mike had been to before and loved. We queued up eventually ordering a couple of burritos. The burritos, like everything here, were massive and it was a struggle to finish them. But we did of course. Mike was even eyeing up everone else's table as you used to get a big bag of free tortilla chips but we didn't seem to have any. It was interesting to try Tex Mex after going to Mexico. We were planning to get the bus back home but there was a 40 minute delay so got an uber instead. That night we packed some more before heading to bed.

[susannaprouse]

Sixty One - San Francisco

The second day of Mike working started in the same way as the first. Mike got up early while I stayed in bed. We said goodbye and I watched some more of Orange is the New Black before heading out. I was excited as I was heading to Golden Gate Park. The bus there took an hour but again I didn't get lost and managed to get off at the right place which I was very pleased with.

I entered the park at one end heading for the bison paddock. I was expecting to see herds of bison in the park but when I arrived I could just about see the brown backs of two. Their faces were hidden so I had to make do with the picture on the plaque and my imagination. After the bisons I walked to the other end of the park towards ... Walking through the park was so nice, the sun had come out and it was so relaxing being out of the city. The smell of the pine and eucalyptus trees was also amazing.

I came to the hill and walked around the lake until I found a bench to eat my homemade sandwich. While I ate I realised not only were there ducks and geese in the lake but also turtles! I made my way over the bridge to the island and walked around until I came to the bridge on the other side. From here I walked to the Japanese Tea Garden. The gardens were beautiful and exactly what I imagine the gardens in Japan are like. Red pagodas towered over manicured bonsai next to pools full of koi. As soon as I started walking around I felt relaxed and happy. I really really want to go to Japan.

After the Japanlese Gardens I walked through the Rose Garden to the Conservatory of Flowers which to my delight were free to get into the first Tuesday of every month which happened to be that day! I walked into the glistening white building and into a hot and humid room. This was the rainforest room and felt very familiar given just a week ago we'd been in the Amazon. It was funny seeing the same plants in the States. The next room was the potted plants room and these weren't your average little garden pots. Huge pots full of beautiful flowers surrounded me as I walked through. I was getting even more ideas for our little garden at home.

The final room was an aquatic room and had the biggest water lilies I've ever seen. Again huge pots full of water housed plants and flowers you'd never know were water plants. The whole place was magical and I've decided I'm not going to go back to work, instead I'll officially be an old lady and just look around beautiful gardens instead.

Even though my legs were aching so much I decided to walk to the 16th Ave steps. I walked via residential streets deciding which of the colourful houses I'd buy until I reached the bottom. The steps were amazing, each one adorned with mosaics to make up artwork that continued all the way up. While I was taking photos I realised this wasn't the steps I thought I was heading towards and to get to those I had to climb up. So I climbed and walked towards the second set which were equally as beautiful.

After the steps I needed to walk all the way back to Golden Gate Park to catch my bus home. I bought a coffee on the way as I needed energy after all that walking. Lucky I did as I was standing on the bus the whole way home. Mike got back a few minutes after me, sweating profusely. Turns and we decided to order pizza before starting the new series of Stranger Things. A short while later the pizza arrived and it was the biggest pizza I've ever seen, we were glad we had only ordered one!

[susannaprouse]

Sixty - San Francisco

It was Monday and the first day Mike had to go to Stanford to work and I would be on my own. It felt very strange Mike getting up early to get ready while I stayed in bed. It felt even stranger that after two months of being with each other 24/7 we'd have the whole day apart. We'd planned to meet a restaurant in China Town that evening and off Mike went to catch the train.

I spent a couple of hours organising what I'd be doing and watching the latest series of Orange is the New Black so it wasn't so quiet in our little room. Then I caught the bus into town making sure I had Google maps ready so I knew where to get off for the next bus to my destination. Without Mike I decided to use a few hours to shop. My first shop was ModCloth, a store we don't have in the UK but one I've loved since I found out about. As usual with my shopping trips if I'm excited to go and spend some money I didn't find anything I liked. At least I got to see another area of San Francisco I suppose.

I then walked down to Japan Town, I didn't even get lost! While I was walking I suddenly realised the signs were in Japanese, the shops and restaurants were Japanese and the parks all had perfectly manicured bonsai trees. I was in Japan Town. I loved walking around and seeing the change in districts. I came across a Japanese dollar store and went in. It was amazing! I wandered around for a long long time managing to only buy my family's pound presents (at Christmas me and my family get each other pound/yen/dollar/peso presents, depending where we all are).

From Japan Town I walked to China Town. China Town here is a huge district full of restaurants and shops. I walked around taking photos and looking around the shops before I realised I was getting hungry so I headed to Union Square area looking for something to eat. What I didn't realise was that the walk was through the dodgy bit of town. Homeless people and people clearly on drugs were walking, sitting and lying in the streets. As I was on my own I walked pretty fast just wanting to get out of there. I had starred a falafel place on my maps for lunch but when I got there it felt a bit dodgy and there was no one else around so I quickly walked past.

I had another place starred also serving falafel (I was really craving falafel) so I made the long half an hour walk there, my stomach rumbling like mad. When I got there it was closed. By this point it was 3pm and I was getting hangry. Good job Mike wasn't with me. Across the road was a middle eastern cafe so I thought I'd just got there. I ordered a falafel wrap but they said they didn't have any falafel, sigh, so I ordered an aubergine wrap instead, paying a gut wrenching $12 for it. It came and was actually very nice, not $12 nice but still nice.

Finally feeling satisfied I walked around the shops, again frustratingly not buying anything. I soon realised it was nearing the time Mike and I said we'd meet but my legs were aching so much by this point (I worked out after I'd been walking for 7 hours) and I couldn't bear walking back up the huge hill to China Town. I realised I could do something else in San Francisco that I'd wanted to do while also not walking, riding a tram!

I found the place to get on and waited with some others. The tram turned up but was packed full of people. As I was only one person I realised I could hang off the side of it and still ride. The journey was great, clinging on to the rail I couldn't take a photo but we rushed up the hill, the guy driving ringing the old bell at every stop. It felt like I'd gone back in time on the rickety wooden 'trolley' and I loved it.

I waited for Mike outside the restaurant for a while, perusing the menu. He arrived and we went in. We caught up on each others day which was really nice and ordered beers, dim sum, fried rice and a tofu dish to share. It was all so delicious, the best Chinese food I've ever had (alongside one place in London) not greasy and full of flavour.

We came to pay and realised we'd been overcharged. When we questioned it and it was sorted out we were given two cookies to apologise, we're doing so well on the freebies in San Francisco! We caught the bus back to our airbnb and went to bed, ready for our next working day and tourist day ahead.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Nine - San Francisco

We got up slightly later on our second day in San Francisco, had breakfast in our airbnb and caught the bus into town. Here we walked to a bike rental place and picked up our bikes for the day. Considering I'd fallen off the bike immediately in the Galapagos I was gearing myself up for another embarrassing fall. Luckily (and obviously now I think of it) the bikes were much better and weren't way too big for me. We cycled out into the sunshine to the Disney Family Museum.

On the way we spotted a Farmers Market so decided to lock up our bikes and take a look. The market was amazing, stalls full of colourful fruit and vegetables in beautiful displays. I hate to say it but the Americans know how to do a farmers market. We got suckered in and ended up buying absolutely delicious artichoke hummus and pittas. I wanted to buy all the things but we managed to tear ourselves away.

We cycled along the bay, appreciating the brilliant cycle lanes and seemingly patient drivers until we reached the museum. As we were queuing for tickets, annoyed that we hadn't bought them online, a woman approached us asking if it was just the two of us and if we wanted her spare ticket. I didn't really understand why she had it but I tentatively offered her money (quickly saying we didn't have much cash on us) to which she refused. She was so kind and we got chatting, she was a San Franciscan and worked with disabled people and service animals. We discussed how great the city is but also how expensive it is to live there. The conversation made the queue go quickly and before we knew it we were buying the additional ticket (even that was reduced as we used Mike's student card!) and thanking her again.

The museum was brilliant although I was slightly dismayed they didn't mention anything about Walt's anti-Semite tendencies although I guess that kind of ruins the magic. It took us through Walt's life, the history of his and the Studio's animations, the impact of the animators strike and war and finally his creation of Disney World. I know I'm falling into the Disney trap but for me it was great and reminded me that I'm excited to take my children to Disney World too.

After the museum we realised it was much later than we thought it would be and we were hungry. Lucky for us right next to the museum there was a mini festival and so loads of food trucks. We walked up and down perusing our options before deciding on philly cheese steak, something Mike had said I needed to try here. I went for the classic and Mike had chicken, they were both delicious and huge. We were both pleased we hadn't ordered any sides to go with it, getting more used to American sized portions.

Feeling satisfied we got back onto our bikes for the main reason we'd hired them, to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. The cycle to the beginning of the bridge was nice, the cycle on the bridge was amazing but also scary. The wind had picked up by this point and there were a lot of other cyclists who were using their weekends well. Even with all of that I didn't fall off, it was a miracle.

At the other end of the bridge there was a huge hill, we sped down it for 10 minutes enjoying the lack of cars and thrill. We had a quick Golden Gate Bridge selfie before cycling on to Salsalito, a small town that is picturesque but also incredibly touristy. We cycled through and found somewhere to park our bikes. I really resented paying the $3 each to park but it seemed we didn't have another option. After going to see the sea we realised we had forgotten to pay. I tried to convince Mike it didn't matter but him being the worrier he is decided to go back to tell the guy. The guy was impressed we had come back saying honesty paid and charged us for just one bike. We definitely could have got away with not paying though...

We wandered down the harbour looking into the touristy and expensive shops ending up in a small cafe for a drink and to secretly snack on our hummus and pittas. Then we walked back deciding which super yachts we'd buy in the marina on the way.

The cycle back was very nice although I did have to get off and walk up the huge hill (I did manage to cycle the beginning and the end though!). There were fewer other cyclists and the wind wasn't quite so windy. We dropped off our bikes and here's where we might have made our last saving of the day. Buckle in it's a long story.

We knew we wanted to hire bikes and Mike had found a place called Basically Free Bikes where you spent $38 on hiring a bike for the day. But you also got that $38 in store credit at a sports shop. I looked at this sports shop and realised they sold camping gear, we just happen to be camping in Yosemite later in the week. So after A LOT of working out we decided to buy some camping crockery and plates as we could get them home easier and our camping kit hire that we'd organised didn't include them.

However, when we went to get the bikes we were only charged $11 because the camping gear we'd hired had come up on their system. They said they'd figure it out and we could sort it when we returned. When we returned the same guy wasn't there so we didn't bring it up. All in all we potentially might have got two bikes for $11 instead of $66 AND free stuff in the sports shop!

By this point in the day we were exhausted, we'd walked for two hours and cycled for three hours. It was definitely time for ice cream. But because we hadn't done quite enough we made a quick detour to Lombard Street, a crazy street made up of a small zig zagging road - you kind of have to Google it to see how weird it is. We clambered up the steps to try and get a good photo but the tall hydrangeas got in the way. We watched car after car of tourists queue up and then wind down this road before we headed for ice cream.

Ghiradellis ice cream was another of the things I was excited to do in San Francisco. Ever since Mum got the brownie mix in Costco I've never been able to forget it. Apparently neither did all the other people in San Francisco as there was a big queue. It went quite quickly and soon we were sat down with two sundaes (salted brownie for me and cookie for Mike but we decided to do halvsies). Half way through we both looked at each other knowingly, we both felt it was too much. These sundaes were huge and our bodies did not want them. We pushed on for a while before wrapping the salvageable brownie, cookie and chocolate to take home. It was so painful for me to leave that ice cream but I also didn't want to be sick. I don't think real adults should be physically sick from eating too much ice cream.

We caught the bus back home feeling better with each minute but were completely exhausted when we got in. We watched a Bob's Burgers before collapsing into bed.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Eight - San Francisco

After waking up stupidly early we quickly went out to find a supermarket. We walked for a while, passing many Asian supermarkets in which western food was expensive, and eventually found a big cheap typical store. I loved walking the aisles and seeing the different things they had. I especially loved getting some disgustingly/amazingly sweet American cereal.

Groceries bought we had a quick turnaround to get a bus into town to the piers and San Francisco's famous science museum, the Exploratorium. The museum was massive and full of amazing things to interact with. It definitely wasn't just for kids, Mike loved the mathsy stuff and the electromagnetism demos while I enjoyed the biology experiments. We whiled away a couple of hours having a lot of fun in there before we decided we were hungry. We walked to the Ferry Building, a huge building full of food places and shops, it felt a little bit like a very hipster market.

We recced the joint, amazed at how expensive everything was and settled on two flounder sandwiches with a portion of fries to share. A good job we did share as the portions were huge! We had both forgotten we were in the US. We ate them on a bench in the sun outside and they were really good.

After lunch we walked along the pier in the sun to Fisherman's Wharf, the super touristy area. We passed by pier after pier seeing all the huge boats in the harbour. We eventually made it to pier 39, maybe the most touristy and odd place I've ever been. It really felt like we were suddenly in Disney World! It was packed with people shopping and eating.

We didn't go in many of the shops but did have to go into Lefties, a shop specially for lefthanded people. Mike was in his element looking at all the things for sale. He would turn to look at something like a measuring jug and say what's the point in this. Then as he picked it up he would gasp wondering how he ever got through life with a righthanded measuring jug. We just about managed to not buy anything and made our way to a huge group of people. They were all there to see the sea lions. Even though we'd seen so many and swam with them in the Galapagos I still bustled through to get a photo.

After watching the sea lions fight for a bit we wandered further down the bay to Musee Mecanique, an arcade packed with antique machines still in working condition. We got our quarters (after having to go out to get some smaller notes) and played two dollars worth. The machines were amazing and if one broke down an old guy in roller skates quickly came skating by to fix it.

We spent an hour in the arcade museum and then walked down to get the ferry to Alcatraz. We'd booked our tour so long ago it felt really weird that the time had finally come. The ferry ride over was short but great, we got some information about the island on the tannoy and had a nice cruise while the sun set, with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

After the ferry we had a guy lead us up the hill toward the prison. His name was Jerry, he was a brilliant guide and walked quickly. I liked him! In the prison we were given audio tour machines that took us around the prison and had four inmates and four guards giving us information on the place. The whole evening was so slick it was amazing. The audio guide was brilliant taking us from the cells to the recreation yard to the guards quarters. It told us about the daily lives of the inmates and guards as well as the various escape attempts.

After handing back the guides there was then a menu of talks we could go to before our ferry back. We decided to go to one about an inmate Forrest Tucker (a recent film, Old Man and the Gun has just been made about him that we're now going to try to watch). The talk was brilliant, the guy doing it was a bit like Jack Black's cousin, he was entertaining engaging and had the whole group captivated. Definitely Google Forrest Tucker as he had a pretty crazy life!

The second talk also took us down the hill to our ferry back. It was about Al Capone who admittedly I didn't really know anything about. Again the young guy doing it was great, we were impressed with everyone working there. The whole evening in Alcatraz was brilliant and it's good to see its glowing reviews aren't overhyped. Maybe San Francisco airport should head to Alcatraz to see how they can get their lines down...

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Seven - Mexico City and San Francisco

We woke up knowing it was Tom's birthday and we would also be flying to San Francisco. So we quickly got dressed, packed and got his birthday present ready. I messaged him but it turns out he overslept which I guess he was allowed to do on his birthday.

Once he was up we sang happy birthday, gave him his birthday banana cake and present and left to go for breakfast. We picked up Arnol on the way and met Hannah and Toby there. It was an amazing restaurant that had been there for 100 years, the decor was beautiful and it was packed.

We all ordered and quickly the food and coffee came. We shared huge portions of scrambled eggs with mole, enchiladas with salsa verde and a big bowl of eggs, salsa verde and beans. Because that clearly wasn't enough it came with bread and tortillas. It was all delicious and I was so glad something that delicious was our last meal in Mexico. After all the food the restaurant bought a birthday cake for Tom, the waiters sang the Spanish happy birthday while we all smiled awkwardly, not knowing the words. Then Arnol pushed Tom's head into the cake. Apparently this is a Mexican tradition and it happens to everyone, even your 90 year old grandma. It was great.

We said goodbye to Hannah and Toby for the last time until the UK and walked back to where Tom lived for our final shopping excursion. Last time we came we nearly bought a really nice pestle and mortar made from stone but didn't, this is what we were going back for.

We wandered around one market but none of them were perfect so we walked to another. Here we found a really nice one that wasn't too expensive. Mike thought he'd find room for it in his bag and we'd made a note of our bag limit hoping for the best. The purchase was made!

After the buy we walked back to Tom's house, packed up our last bits and booked an uber. It was so sad saying goodbye to Tom again, I'm not sure I'll ever get over the feeling of driving away from him. At least I know he'll be back in the UK soon for Christmas.

The airport was more stressful than we'd hoped. Firstly our tickets didn't come with baggage so we had to buy some which wasn't a problem. But after we'd got through security and went to buy a Subway Mike realised his credit card was still in the machine at check in. We rushed around trying to find an Aeromexico representative and then tried to explain what had happened. The guy we were speaking to took quite a long time to understand and finally he told us to wait while he tried to phone through.

We waited and waited until we were waiting at the gate ready to board. About ten minutes before we got on the woman that checked us in found us and had Mike's card, phew! At least the flight was straight forward.

We arrived at San Francisco airport at 9.45 but because of the time difference it felt like a lot later. As our airbnb was fairly close we thought we'd be able to whisk through and be in our beds by 11. This was not the case. Apparently come from Mexico into the US means it takes FOREVER to get through passport control. It took us two hours. There were two people at the desks and the line was massive. To make it worse there was a woman in front of me that kept coughing without covering her mouth. I wanted to punch her in the face.

We finally, finally made it to the guy on the desk and of course we had to be nice so he didn't make it difficult for us. Turns out he was a nice guy, was surprised we were on the Mexico flight, discussed how he'd been with his wife since school as well and congratulated us on our honeymoon.

Feeling like zombies we got into our uber and made our way to the Airbnb we'd call home for the next few days. It was a teeny studio but was really nice. We flopped into bed and set our alarm for the next days actives.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Six - Mexico City

We woke up early and used the time to organise the next leg of our trip to San Francisco until the time came we said we'd meet with Tom in his room. Tom had slept well, so well we didn't even need a coffee yet! Instead we walked down to the market to get a fresh juice. Mike and I shared a mamay (a fruit in Mexico that is completely delicious, it tastes like caramel) with oats and honey. It was filling and so good.

After this I was full but Mike and Tom went to get some tacos from another stall after. We walked back to Tom's house for a quick coffee; we did need it after all. Then we walked to the metro station to meet Hannah and Toby. They were there waiting for us so we quickly got on the metro, then replacement bus and then back on the metro to get to our destination.

We finally arrived and by this time were a little hungry so we all had a Mexican pasty, something that had been bought over by the British miners and changed to have more Mexican flavours. We all opted for mole, a sweet and smoky chicken filling with flaky delicious pastry. Eating and walking we eventually came to Xochimilco where hundreds of colourful boats were lined up waiting to take us for a ride. Tom and Mike found someone who would take us at a reduced price while Hannah, Toby and I went to the bathroom.

We boarded the florescent boat by clambering over two others and all found a seat. The river was packed full of boats, big groups of Mexicans using the boats for parties and dates, surrounded by mariachi bands playing music from all directions. We cruised down the river taking it all in and being offered all different sorts of food and drink on be way. We declined it all until we came to one we all wanted to try: polque. Polque is a fermented alcoholic drink made from cactus. The boys all ordered the traditional polque, Hannah ordered it with mango and I ordered with mamay. I was very hesitant trying this drink, but Tom said was delicious and as usual he was right. It was sweet and not overpoweringly alcoholic like I was expecting (mezcal being the only other Mexican alcohol I had to compare to). The only problem was it was served in huge litre foam cups. It was going to be a good ride.

As we went on we saw more bands and boats as well as loads of gardens full of flowers and plants. Apparently this is where the majority are grown in Mexico City as it's the only place in the dry city with constant access to water. It was like passing loads of garden centres!

We stopped in one to have a look around, getting more inspiration for our garden but also being annoyed we couldn't bring anything home with us. After admiring everything we were offered entrance to see the amphibian axolotl that is only found in this river in Mexico. We couldn't refuse and so paid our way in. The guy took us around showing us rattle snakes, bearded dragons, pythons, fish and frogs. Toby and I had a go holding the pythons before Tom decided to try to get over his fear of snakes and hold the biggest python ever!

Eventually we made our way around to the ... and were told how rare it was and how it was under threat of extinction. The man was hopeful it might recover as lots of experiments were being made on it as it's the only animal that can regrow it's limbs, brain and heart!

We all got back on the boat, feeling a little happy from the polque and we rode back to dock, the conversation veering to all the serious things in life (helped by the polque I think!).

After the boat we had a quick look at the tat stalls before making our way back on the metro, bus and metro. We decided to head to where Tom's friend, Arnol, worked. It was a vegan taqueria and as we were all a bit sick of meat from our South American travels it was a good option. The food was delicious and we had a mix of tacos and tortas washed down with a passionfruit and strawberry drink.

The food finished we wanted to finish the day off well and so walked to get churros, milkshakes and hot chocolate. They were all delicious and the perfect way to end another lovely day!

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Five - Mexico City

The 3am alarm call came and we quickly got dressed and were in the taxi within 10 minutes. This is also when we first started talking to each other, mornings are hard.

Check in went smoothly and as I hadn't done it for a while we tried the old 'it's our honeymoon' trick hoping for an upgrade. The woman at the desk nonplussed replied with 'well, what do you want?'. It didn't go well.

The flight was a struggle because of the lack of sleep and my inability to sleep on planes. Instead I watched a couple of movies while Mike snored beside me. In six hours we were landing back in Mexico and another uber we were soon back at Tom's house.

After accidently chatting for too long we realised we hadn't eaten so quickly went out for food. Mike had tacos filled with pig head and pork. I had a quesidilla filled with cheese and peppers. It was good to be back in Mexico with all the amazing food!

As my cousin Hannah and her boyfriend Toby were also coincidentally in Mexico City after their travels in South America we had arranged to meet them, along with one of Tom's friends, at a cantina in town. We quickly got showered, changed and coffeed at Tom's before walking over.

The evening was so nice, catching up with everyone, swapping South America stories and drinking beer. The beer also came with the most delicious food. We had octopus, fish in tomatoey sauce and a dish representing the revolution - a huge green pepper stuffed with pork and raisins with a walnut cream sauce made to look like a Mexican flag.

While we talked a mariachi band dressed in amazing typical black uniforms also entertained us, crowding round groups of work friends while they all sang together. It was great to see a mariachi band that wasn't there for tourists. The whole evening was great but it soon got late and we were definitely feeling that 3am start so we got an uber back to Tom's. We promptly fell asleep after making plans to meet up again the next day.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Four - Iquitos & Lima

We woke up early and were in a taxi heading to the airport by 7am. We'd be making the short two hour flight back to Lima, the airport we'd visited four times by now! We had breakfast at the airport (sandwich for me and a rice meal for Mike) and got on the plane. The flight went quickly because as always I ended up dozing and in a short time we'd picked up our bags and were making the hour-long taxi ride to our hostel.

When we arrived things started to get a little stressful. Firstly when we rang the hostel's door bell no one answered. I knew we'd told them we would be arriving at this time so was confused. This is when I realised I didn't have my phone, it must have fallen out of my pocket in the taxi. So while I kept ringing the buzzer continously thinking someone would have to hear it sooner or later Mike tried to Skype the taxi company. Luckily we'd decided to get an authorised taxi in the airport rather than the unauthorised rank outside. Another lucky thing is that Mike still had the screwed up receipt in his pocket which allowed the woman on the phone to know exactly who our driver was.

Fifteen minutes after arriving I was still pushing the buzzer getting more and more angry. Finally someone let us in, Mike was still on the phone. The woman on the other end couldn't get through to the driver so took down his mobile number as well as our hostels (although by this point I held no hope in them actually answering it!). I felt helpless so just tried to think of what else I could do.

Then amazingly the taxi driver was ringing the woman back. A quick wait and she said he could come to the hostel in 20 minutes with the phone, of course we'd have to pay him some money but that was fine. I was so relieved, the phone is really old so that didn't bother me but my losing my sim and having to change all my passwords would have been very annoying. Lesson learnt though! To top it all off while this was happening I started my period a day early which was a whole other stress. At least we knew Baby Zika wasn't on her way.

After the driver dropped off my phone (and went away very pleased with his unexpected 20 sol) we went out to get some lunch. We decided to have traditional ceviche for our last meal in Peru. It was full of salty raw fish and seafood and was absolutely delicious!

As we wanted to get an early night and I love going to the cinema in other countries we decided to go and see the latest Tarentino movie at the local cinema. It was so cheap at £2.50 per ticket we even treated ourselves to a box of popcorn. The film was good (in English with Spanish subtitles) and it was interesting seeing the differences between Peruvian and British cinema. There are hardly any pre-film adverts and as soon as the film finishes the lights are on and everyone leaves. None of that British politeness watching the first five minutes of the credits.

After the cinema we walked back to the hostel, grabbing our last pork bun from our favourite place. We ate them in the hostel trying to trick our bodies that 9pm is a good time to fall asleep before our 3am alarm call the next morning.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Three - Iquitos

After a restless night we both were awake very early so took the opportunity to get up and get to our destination for the morning early. Our activity for the day was something I'd been looking forward to for so long and was one of the major factors of us going to the Amazon from Iquitos. The place was called Isla de Los Monos and was a rescue and rehabilitation centre for monkeys.

As we'd trialled the route before (when we were trying to work out how to get there) we knew exactly where to go. We walked through the busy fruit market to the rickety dock area full of planks of wood precariously nailed together to form platforms. Entering these docks was like going into a film where we were definitely 'not from around these parts'. People were going around their daily business and it felt like a world away from what we knew.

We found the boats and luckily there were two spare seats on one so we didn't have to wait and immediately we were off. The boat was noisy and crammed with people. I tried not to think about how dangerous it was and instead enjoyed the view of the passing land and fishing boats.

After around 20 minutes the boat stopped and a couple got off. I saw a sign proclaiming 'Isla de Los Monos' and we quickly struggled through people to get to the front, lucky for us as the boat was about to head off to whatever the next destination was.

On land we found the very muddy trail to the centre and were glad we'd decided to wear our jungle gear, watching another couple struggle with their trainers. Five minutes in we quickly got on our long sleeve tops as we were being bitten by mosquitos. We couldn't put on any repellent or sun cream as it's toxic to the monkeys so we came prepared.

After twenty minutes of walking we came to an open area with some wooden structures. Following the signs instructions we walked to the purple hut and were met by a man who owned the centre. While he was explaining what the centre does and the monkeys they had I could make out something moving by his feet. I got excited thinking it might be a dog but when I moved closer I saw a monkey!!! I bent down and saw a tiny Saki monkey playing and being completely adorable. The man explained how when she arrived her coxis was broken and she had a bullet in her. Apparently people hunt Saki monkeys to make feather dusters from their bushy tails. I will never get over how cruel and desperate humans can be.

I didn't want to leave the Saki monkey but soon our guide arrived and we had to follow him. We went outside, walked to some trees and immediately we could see black bodies above and around us. Little wooly monkeys scampered in the trees, playing with each other and coming down for food on the feeding platform. It was completely amazing and I wanted to cry. Our guide told us how all the monkeys could roam wherever they wanted on the 40 hectare island. They'd all been rescued from the pet or meat trade and were young. When they got to around four years old they'd be taken somewhere without human contact so they could then release them.

The monkeys came down for food and weren't phased by us at all. They occasionally reached out a hand to us to touch us which was completely magical. Their fur was so soft and wooly (funny that!). They were unbelievably cute, so much like a child's drawing of a monkey.

After a while another couple joined us and while they did another breed of monkey came down. A tiny red baby howler monkey that was so timid and so cute. Our guide pointed over in the distance and said there was another. But this one was on the back of one of the other young wooly monkeys as it walked over to us. The wooly monkey had adopted the baby howler monkey and it made my heart swell, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!!!

As the monkeys got more comfortable with us they started to use us as climbing frames to jump onto trees or play fight together. Soon Mike had a wooly monkey on him and I had the timid baby howler monkey wrapped around me, watching the woolys from a safe distance. I couldn't believe it was happening and how the little monkeys trusted us and wanted to be with us already. It was the most amazing thing ever.

Although I didn't want to leave the troop of monkeys our guide led us through to the jungle trail. While we were walking some of the wooly monkeys followed us and before we knew it Mike had one on his head while walking. The guide told us because they didn't have mothers they needed love and also liked to hitch a ride. The monkey loved Mike and did not want to get off (at one point I was so jealous Mike said I could have a turn holding it but it clung onto Mike so we let it be). We walked along the trail like this with the baby monkey grabbing leaves to eat on the way.

It wasn't long before another wooly monkey had jumped onto me and was sat on my shoulders like a toddler. The weight of the monkey and the way it's tail wrapped around my arm like another hand was so unbelievably lovely I was again close to tears. So there we were walking through the forest with our new monkey babies. As we walked we saw other monkeys, a mix of wild and rescued that weren't as clingy as the woolys. We saw white crested marmosets, a lonely tiki that was abandoned by its troop and the tiniest of all the primates, pygmy marmosets - the size of my palms (which are tiny enough!).

As we walked my wooly monkey started to lick my face. I asked our guide if it was OK and he said she's just licking the salt. Well she was in for a feast with my sweaty head. While others might be disgusted with this I absolutely loved it. I could feel her tiny warm breath as she licked, smelling a bit like green tea.

We continued to walk to the end of the trail but before we got there my little monkey gestured to the floor. I assumed she wanted a leaf as she had been doing this the whole walk but I looked down to see a big snails shell on the forest floor. I bent down and she reached out to pick it up. I soon realised the shell was full of water and she wanted to drink it! She proceeded to do this pouring the water all over my head while trying.

Feeling like one of the troop we walked over to some more monkeys, a bigger Saki monkey, little tamarins and another red tiki. The woolys and the tiki took it in turns to climb onto our shoulders until Mike and I had both felt the little red tiki around our shoulders like a scarf. It was completely amazing to see all these breeds together and so close. I can't describe how happy I was.

Finally our walk came to an end and we had to let the monkeys go. Safe to say I really didn't want to. I kept saying to Mike, can't we stay? Do you think we can pay more and hang out with the woolys some more? Luckily I had the baby Saki monkey in the hut to take my mind off that fact that we had to leave. I consoled myself with the fact that we'd had this most amazing experience and we can't stay longer as it wouldn't be good for the monkeys.

The whole morning was maybe my best morning ever. I've always loved animals and this felt like a combination of that deep seated love and my maternal instincts melding together to make one giant emotion. It's amazing I didn't explode. It's kind of pathetic but I can't believe how much I loved those baby monkeys and how much I felt like I needed to care for them. Plus they were so soft.

Walking back to the boat I felt an absolute mix of emotions - complete euphoria at having seen and held the monkeys, complete sadness at having to leave them and an overwhelming anger at the greedy humans that had harmed them. I could see they were being well looked after so that was the only consolation.

The boat ride back went quickly and we got back to the hostel, showered and sorted out our very muddy clothes. After we went out for lunch, repeatedly looking at our photos and videos of the morning not quite believing how lucky we were.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the hostel before heading back out for dinner. That night we went to a local place that served kebabs. When we arrived we were shown a fridge full of different kebabs that we could choose from. We opted for some fish, stuffed peppers, potato and cheese with pineapple. Each one came with vegetables and a salad and were delicious!

To finish off one of my best days of the whole trip we went to the ice cream place and got ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce. What a day!

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Two - Amazon, Day Four

We woke up and were out of the lodge for 7am on a mission to find sloths. Getting on the boat early in the morning felt like a strange routine now as we were whisked off to the start of our jungle trail. As usual we were concentrating hard on not tripping up the forest obstacles while Jose was in front, machete in hand, scanning the trees for the camouflaged brown blob.

An hour in and we were both sweaty and getting irritable with the mosquitos. Then suddenly Jose pointed up excitedly. In the skies we could see a tree, luckily for us clearer than the dense canopy, with the clear outline of a sloth. In plain view we could see its brown fur and that it had rolled itself into a ball to sleep. With the binoculars we could see its hands curled around the tree, it's face buried in on itself.

We stared at it amazed while Martin reeled off facts about it. It's main predator is the eagle and the human. They only eat two types of leaf here. If they're under attack they drop themselves from the tree, either to the ground or water, and because they're so light they don't get injured. They're fast swimmers but slow movers. And the best fact of all, the males are territorial so you won't find two in the same area. You know this is the best fact by just imagining a sloth fight. The slowest fight ever.

We walked back to the boat and rode to the lodge where breakfast was waiting for us. After food we packed up, relaxed for a bit and then had to make the journey back to Iquitos. It was sad leaving the little lodge and jungle we'd got used to. Without Internet our pace had slowed right down and we'd got used to life consisting of jungle walks, boat rides, hammock reads and afternoon naps.

The boat ride back took us from the narrow to the wide open river. We started to see more and more boats until we eventually arrived at the busy port. A moto taxi ride and then car ride and a total of five hours later we were back in Iquitos.

After saying goodbye to Martin and Jose we wandered back to our hostel where the door was locked so we couldn't get in. Since it was lunchtime anyway we went to a restaurant, in our sweaty muddy jungle gear, to get something to eat and use the WiFi. We shared a bowl of carbonara and fresh fish with chips. I can't say how good it was not to be eating salty rice. I also got to stroke a pregnant cat so it was a good lunch all round.

We had a message from the hostel saying they'd gone out but explaining how we could get in so we quickly got another soft scoop ice cream before heading back. The shower in the hostel isn't freezing but it's definitely not warm, normally for me this would be a problem as I like my showers scalding but because it's so hot here it's such a welcome relief. After the shower we went for a swim in the small hostel pool and napped.

For dinner that night we returned back to the Amazonian wrap place. Mike decided not to have the grande this time remembering how full he felt last time. The wraps were great once again!